Dispensing device for roll material



Oct. 25, 1960 M. M. MARCUSE DISPENSING DEVICE FOR ROLL MATERIAL Filed001;. 14, 1957 Ill/ n .lfllllll 'gdvvvvlflll fl a INVENTOR. Md$5 M.nmerusz Chemical Products, Inc., Long Island City, N.Y., a corporationof New York Filed Oct. 14, 1957, Set. No.'690,111

9 Claims. (Cl. 312-39 This invention relates to dispensing devices forroll material, such for example, as roll paper towels wherein means isprovided for selectively and interchangeably dispensing paper towelsfrom a single large roll, and from two smaller rollers within a unitarycabinet. More particularly, the invention relates to a retractible rollsupport device having swinging movement from a protruding', roll supportposition, to a retracted or inoperative position.

In the dispensing of paper towels, and'the like, particularly in restrooms of office buildings, and public places where rest rooms areextensively in use, various types and'kihds'of paper towel dispensershave been employed.

One such type of dispenser is a wall cabinet device' adapted to receivea paper towel roll of substantial di-" ameter withthe paper being fedoutwardly from the lower;- front edge of the device in a position to'permit e'asy severance of a desired amount ofpap'er so discharged. Theuse-- of a relatively large paper towel-roll'permits'l such devices whenrefilled, tobe left unattended for ex tended periods of time, dependingupon normal activity in a particular rest room, with assurance thattowels will not normally be exhausted between regular or periodicrefilling of such devices. It is found, however, that frequently whenperiodic rounds are made to refill such devices, the quantity of paperleft on the roll in use will be known to be insufiicient to last untilthe next periodic check. The tendency has been in such instances toremove the partially consumed roll, and replace it with a new full rollof paper. This practice, however, resultsin'an accumulation of partiallyconsumed paper rolls of differing sizes which cannot be efiic-ientlyused in dispensing apparatus, and which to a considerable extent, arewasted or at least lost to their intended purpose.

An object of the present invention is to provide means for eliminatingthis waste, as well as the inconvenience of having to store or handlepartially used paper rolls by employing a supplemental paper rollsupport retractibly mounted within a dispensing device which permitsselective use of the device as a dispenser for the single paperroll, orfor two paper rolls simultaneously feeding a double layer of toweling. Afurther object of the invention is to provide a supplemental roll towelsupport in the form of a complete or self-contained unit which can bereadily mounted on the inner rear wall of various types of roll toweldispensers. These and other objects of the invention will be morereadily apparent from a consideration of the following description takentogether with the accompanying drawing in which preferred adaptations ofthe invention have been illustrated with various parts thereofidentified by suitable reference characters in each of the views, and inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a typical roll towel dispenserlooking along the axis of the towel roll therein, and.,illustrating mysupplemental towel roll support in operative position;

States PatentO 2,957,738 Patented Oct. 25, 1960 Ice I towel support asshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view similar to Fig. 1 showing my supplementaltowel support associated with a slightly different type of toweldispenser.

I have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawing a typical dispenser 10 for rollpaper towels adapted for mounting on a wall or other vertical support 11by suitable fastening means as indicated by the screws 12. The dispenser10 comprises an inner casing part 13 having a rear wall 14, side walls15, bottom wall 16, and a lower front wall portion 17; and an outercasing part 18 pivotally coupled to the inner casing part 13 by hingemeans 19. The front wall portion 17 of the inner casing part carries aspring lock member 20 engaging the lower edge feed rollers comprising adriven roller 22 preferably having a roughened outer surface, and anidling roller 23-- supported in close engagement with the roller 22. Theparticular means for driving the roller 22 forms no part of the presentinvention, but the arrows on the rollers 22 and; 23 indicate thedirection of rotation'thereof'fin' the feed'of,towelingtherebetween; v

The in'ner'casing part is also provided withinclined flanges 24protruding from the side walls 15, providing support for a paper roll25. For purpose of illustration, I have shown in dotted lines a largepaper roll substantially filling the inner casing 13, and feedingbetween the rollers 22, 23, a single sheet of toweling 26 as seen indotted lines. As the roll 25 is consumed, it will assume a smaller sizeas indicated by the full line showing 25 at I which time the roll 25occupies only a small portion of 12 by providing a slight bead or offset30 the avail-able space Withinthe inner casing 13. It is to provide moreel'licient use of the space within the casing 13 when the paper rollsare partially consumed, that I am providing a supplemental andretractible paper roll support which forms the subject matter of thepresent invention;

The supplemental paper roll support as shown in Figs. 1 to 4 of thedrawing comprises a movable shelf member 27 pivotally secured as by thehinges 28 to mounting means 29 normally in abutting relation to the rearwall 14 of the inner casing part, and suitably secured in position bythe screws or fasteners 12 by which the dispenser device is mounted on awall or vertical support.

The mounting means 29 may be in the form of separate straps or strips ofmoderately resilient steel, or the like, in order to provide slightoutward flexure of the hinge portions 28 from the wall 14 in the mannerhereinafter described. In this connection, the spring action can beenhanced while eliminating strain adjacent the fasteners as seen inFigs. 2 and. 3,

Intermediate the hinges 28 is a small downwardly extending stop member31 movably coupled to the shelf 27 by a hinge 32. When the shelf 27 isin the vertical position shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 4, thestop member 31 hangs freely against the rear wall 14 of the innercasing. When the shelf 27 drops to operative position, as shown in fulllines, however, shoulder portions on the shelf 27 and stop member 31come into engagement, as seen at 33 in Fig. 4 of the drawing, torestrict downward movement of the shelf 27. Thereafter, however, as.weight is applied to the shelf 27, a limited further downward movementis provided by outward fiexure of the mounting means 29, as seen indotted lines in Fig. 3' of the drawing. Such movement is accompaniedby-an upward sliding movement ofthe stop member 31 with respect to thewall 1 4 as will be apparent.

The forward edge of the shelf 27 is provided with a roller 34 supportedby end brackets 35 which, as seerr in Fig. 2 of the drawing, do notextend to the surface of the roller 34, thereby permitting a paper roll35 placed on the shelf 27 to protrude beyond the ends thereof, as seenin Fig. 2. Paper can readily be drawn from the bottom of the roll 36,over the roller 34, past the small roll 25, and fed outwardly betweenthe feed rollers 22, 23 as a second towel feed- 37. In this connection,it will be noted that the resilient mounting of the retractible shelf 27compensates in part for the weight of different sized small paper rolls36 which may be placed on the shelf.

In operation of the device, whether feeding a singl sheet of toweling(the dotted line showing 26 in Fig. 1), or a double sheet of toweling26, 27 as seen in full iines in Fig. 1, the desired amount of paper isfed from the device, and then severed by pulling against the roller tearedge 38 of the front wall part 17.

It will be evident that with the retractible shelf 27 in the dispensingdevice 10, as shown in Fig. l, a unique flexibility is provided in theuse of the dispensing device. The attendant, in checking dispensers ofthis type to replace towel supplies, can insert a single full roll ofpaper, can leave a partially consumed roll in place and add on the shelf27 a small towel roll previously removed" from a dispenser, or if thesingle roll being used is quite small, he can move this to the shelf 27,and place a larger partially consumed roll in the lower position of thedevice. In this way, when periodically checking dispensers, theattendant can be sure of providing an adequate supply of towels while atthe same time completely utilizing partially spent rolls whichheretofore have accounted for considerable nuisance and waste.

In Fig. of the drawing, there is diagrammatically illustrated a modifiedadaptation of my invention in which the casing 39 has an upwardlyextending rear portion 40 providing space within the casing to receive asmall paper roll 41 supported on a retractible shelf 27' in the mannerpreviously described. With this modified type of easing, it will beevident that a large roll 42 of towelingcan always be inserted in thedevice by the attendant when refilling towel dispensers. partially spentroll at the time of refilling will be of a size to be placed on theshelf 27 as the small roll 41, thus minimizing the amount of handling ofsmall paper rolls, while at the same time permitting completeutilization of partially spent rolls.

As described in connection with Fig. 1, the device as shown in Fig. 5readily discharges between feed rollers 22, 23', either a single sheet,or a double sheet of toweling. In this connection, it will be apparentthat an attendant can be guided in part by external examination ofdispensers when checking the same for towel supply. When two sheets oftoweling are being discharged in operation of a dispenser, it can beassumed that a reasonable amount of toweling is still present in thedispenser. On the other hand, when a single sheet of toweling is beingdispensed, this indicates that refilling, or rearrangement of towelrolls within the device may be advisable.

While my supplemental retractible shelf means has been described inconjunction with a particular type of towel dispenser, it is to beunderstood that the device will be suitable for use with many types andkinds of" roll towel dispensers. It will further be evident that theretractable shelf constitutes a separate unit or attachment which canreadily be installed in existing dispensing de- In many instances,theand to the extent, that suchchanges and modifications are embraced bythe appended claims, it is to be understood that they constitute part ofmy invention.

I claim:

1. A supporting device for roll material to be dispensed, said device;comprising vertically elongated mounting means havingmeans at the upperportion thereof for securing the same to a vertical support, a shelfmember pivotally secured to the lower portion of said mounting means andhaving swinging movement from an upright inoperative position to anoutwardly protruding shelf forming position, an independent stop memberpivoted tosaid shelf member at the inner pivotally supported edgethereof, said stop member having bearing engagement with said verticalsupport below said shelf member and providing means limiting downwardswinging movement of said shelf member, and the outer edge of said shelfmember carrying a roller extending through substantially its entirelength, the surface of said roller protruding above the upper surface ofsaid shelf member and facilitating withdrawal of sheet material fromaroll thereof supported on said shelf member.

2. A supporting device for roll material as definedin,

claim 1 wherein the mounting means extends along a vertical support avertical distance substantially equivalent to the distance whichtheshelf member protrudes from said support, said mounting means beingsulficiently resilient to permit outward flexure of the lower portionthereof in compensating for difierent weights of;

roll material placed on said shelf member.

3. A supporting device for roll material as defined in claim 1 whereinthe mounting means comprise a pair of spaced resilient members extendinga substantial vertical distance along saidvertical support, wherebylower portions of said resilient members can fiex outwardlyfrom saidsupport providing variable orientation of said shelf member as differentweights of roll material are.

supported thereon.

4; A supportingdevice for roll material as defined in claim 3 whereinsaid resilient members adjacent the. upper; mounting end portionsthereof are provided with; transverse ofisetscontributing to theresilient properties thereof.

5. In combination with a cabinet device for dispensing-sheet materialfrom a storage roll, said device being adapted'for mounting on avertical support and having;

means at the lower forward portion thereof for discharging sheetmaterial from a roll stored, within the. device, an auxiliary supportfor roll material in the.

npperrearportion of said cabinet, said auxiliary support comprising apivoted shelf part mounted on the rear wall of said cabinet to swingfrom an upright inoperative position to an outwardly protruding shelfforming posi-. tion, the outer edge of said shelf part carrying arollerextending. throughout substantially the length of said outer edge,and said auxiliary support providing means for retaining within thecabinet a second roll of sheet material in a position to be dischargedfrom the cabinet in superimposed relation to sheet material dischargedfrom. said first stored roll.

6. The combination of a dispenser for roll sheet matetrial and auxiliarymeans for supporting a second roll of sheet material therein as definedin claim 5, wherein the storage chamber of the device is of a size to besubstantially filled by a full roll of sheet material, and the auxiliarysupport is disposed in upright inoperative position until the firststored roll of sheet material has been partially consumed.

7. The combination of a dispenser for roll sheet material and auxiliarymeans for supporting a second roll of sheet material therein as definedin claim 5, wherein the storage chamber of the device is sufiicientlyelongated vertically to receive a full roll of sheet material as thefirst stored roll and a partially spent roll 0-11 said auxiliary supportabove said first stored roll.

8. In a wall dispenser for roll paper towels having means for supportinga towel roll in the lower portion thereof and discharge means fortoweling at the lower front portion thereof, the improvement thatcomprises an auxiliary support above and rearwardly of said first namedsupporting means adapted to receive a partially spent towel roll and tosupport the same in position to facilitate simultaneous discharge oftoweling from two towel rolls within the dispenser, said auxiliarysupport having a shelf .part pivotally mounted to swing from an uprightinoperative position to an outwardly protruding shelf forming position,and the outer edge of said shelf part carrying a roller extendingthroughout substantially the length of its outer edge.

9. In a wall dispenser for roll paper towels having means for supportinga towel roll in the lower portion thereof and discharge means fortoweling at the lower front portion thereof, the improvement thatcomprises an auxiliary support above and rearwandly of said first 6named supporting means adapted to receive a partially spent towel rolland to support the same in position to facilitate simultaneous dischargeof toweling from two towel rolls within the dispenser, said auxiliarysupport having a shelf part pivotally mounted to swing from an uprightinoperative position to an outwardly protruding shelf forming position,the outer edge of said shelf part carrying a roller extending throughoutsubstantially the length of its outer edge, and said shelf part, in itsoutwardly protruding position having resilient stop means adapting thesame to receive partially spent towel rolls of different size andweight.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS386,550 McNeill July 24, 1888 454,317 Wheeler June 16, 1891 975,053Lorenz Nov. 8, 1910 976,541 Blevins et a1 Nov. 22, 1910 2,030,602McDonough et a1. Feb. 11, 1936 2,288,332 Steiner et a1. June 30, 19422,482,714 Mell Sept. 20, 1949 2,500,881 Stader Mar. 14, 1950 FOREIGNPATENTS 373,610 France Mar. 22, 1907

